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VILLANOVA, Pa. -

MBB Post-Game Quotes vs. Columbia

Head Coach Jay Wright

Opening Statement,

"That was a very smart, well coached Columbia team to play against. They're a really good team. My first thought when I watched film of them was that this is bad scheduling, but I knew it would be a good test for us. They're talented, execute well and have experienced players. Our experienced players played well tonight and some of our young guys got their first taste of playing. That's what we're going to have to do this year."

On Omari Spellman's first game,

"I liked how he rebounded the ball. For a big guy that is the most difficult offense to guard and he did it well in his first game. Also, they brought their five away from the basket and he was forced to guard the ball off of ball screens and he did a good job with it. Decision making, communicating defensively, all of those things well get better the more he plays."

On how it's going to be watching his team develop,

"It's going to be interesting. We haven't had a team where four young guys are going to be heavily depended on. On the other hand, we have pretty much six starters. Donte (DiVincenzo) will play starter minutes and he has been great about coming off the bench. He's a great team player. We have to get these young guys experience; it might look bad early, it might hurt us early but it gives us potential at the end to be a pretty good team."

On how big it is for this team to have experienced upperclassmen to mentor the younger guys,

"They will make these young guys better. They do a good job leading them. We had some lineups tonight where it was three young guys and two of those experienced guys but that's what it is going to be like. It's going to be a little ugly early on here but I do think in the end we have a chance to be a good team.

On playing their home games at the Wells Fargo Center,

"This was all new today. It was nice, but there are a lot of things that will be different to our routine playing here during the week. It was great to have everyone coming down here on a Friday night from Villanova. We really appreciate the crowd and the students and it's going to make for a unique year."

On the balance in scoring,

"We have to make that a strength for us. Everybody has to get each other shots and no one can be worried about being our leading scorer. We pass the ball well, and it might not show because we didn't shoot great tonight, but I can't really remember any shots that I thought were bad shots. That all comes with being a great passing team."

Forward #4 Eric Paschall

On his in-game mentoring of Omari Spellman,

"I was just telling him to stay in his stance and keep talking (on defense). Coach Wright preaches stance stamina and talking on defense. If there is no one talking on defense it's not helping anybody. I just wanted him to keep talking and keep his head turning on defense."

Guard #1 Jalen Brunson

On mentoring Collin Gillespie,

"The most important thing that Collin did was that he air balled his first shot and you never saw it on his face. You have to have the ability to move on after things like that and he did. He hit two three's right after that and you got to see his confidence. All of those young guys, we're going to get on them but as leaders we have to step up and show them how to play Villanova Basketball. It starts with the leaders and it's going to trickle down."

On how his approach has changed now that he's a leader of this team,

"I just keep the same approach. It might be a little different role but I keep the same mentality. I'm playing for my teammates and coaches, working hard individually and try and get my teammates ready for a game like this."